THE ROYAL BARBADOS POLICE FORCE has started an official investigation into the behaviour of the Maloney family after a controversial verdict last month by Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris.
Emotions ran high in the courtyard on April 24 after the coroner deemed that the former Barbados Exhibition winner I’Akobi Maloney had died by misadventure at Landlock, St Lucy, last June 17, the same day he resigned from his job as an engineer at the Arawak Cement Plant.
Verbal Insults
Members of the family, along with members of the Rastafarian community, were on hand for the verdict, and a number of verbal insults and threats were allegedly hurled at police on duty in the courtyard.
Sergeant Wingrove Headley, one of the two policemen who were on duty when Maloney died, and who testified that Maloney ran from them and jumped off a 50-foot cliff to his death, was also in the courtyard and was allegedly the subject of insults and threats.
A reliable source informed the WEEKEND NATION that all the police on duty within the confines of the courtyard that day have been required to give official statements to a superior officer, in an effort to determine if any members of the Maloney family, or the Rastafarian community, went too far with their verbal outrage and, in so doing, broke the law.
“We are doing an investigation. I would rather not comment any further,” said Assistant Superintendent Curvan Harvey yesterday, the man in charge of the investigation.
Maloney’s legal team said yesterday the news of such an investigation was disturbing.
The family’s attorney-at-law David Comissiong said: “The family’s legal team has not been informed of any investigation into its [the family's] actions, but should it be so, that would be very unfortunate.”
Comissiong said emotions were very raw that day and the environment very charged.
Heart-rending
“The responses of the family, as expected, were heart-rending. One would have anticipated the police would have had the maturity to understand the situation and empathise with family members,” he added.
Comissiong said the decision to investigate the matter further was surprising since Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin had “offered an olive branch” to the Rastafarian community, saying he was willing to meet with them.
That’s what members of the Rastafarian community want the Royal Barbados Police Force to do before there is any meeting between the two bodies to discuss a long list of issues.
This was only one of the conditions outlined by the Justice Committee at a Press conference held at the I’Akobi Youth Resource Centre, Tweedside Road, St Michael, yesterday.
It was called to respond to Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin’s invitation to meet and discuss the issue of “Rasta profiling”. (more…)
I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, 23, of Hutson’s Alley, Reed Street, St Michael, died on June 17, 2008, at Land Lock, St Lucy. The circumstances of his death were investigated by the Coroner’s Court and recently, Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris in her verdict said his death was due to misadventure. The following is Part 6 of an edited version of the verdict which began on Monday. It concludes in tomorrow’s DAILY NATION.
ONCE AGAIN, Walkes, who was particularly sensitive to the situation and who had conveyed as much by way of the time-honoured gesture showing that someone is deranged, asked why he was on the cliff and he said he was under a lot of pressure. Walkes asked him why, Maloney said his back was hurting him…
Walkes then wanted to know from Maloney if he had ever seen a psychiatrist. Headley took Maloney’s ID which had been found in his wallet and went to the van and reported to Operations Control. He told Operations Control that he believed that Maloney’s faculties were not intact and that they would bring him in…
When Headley returned, he told Maloney that he would like him to accompany them to the police station to interview him. These may have seemed like ominous words to a young man of extreme sensitivity… (more…)
I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, 23, of Hutson’s Alley, Reed Street, St Michael, died on June 17, 2008, at Land Lock, St Lucy. The circumstances of his death were investigated by the Coroner’s Court and last Friday, Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris in her verdict said his death was due to misadventure. The following is Part 4 of an edited version of the verdict which began on Monday. It continues in tomorrow’s SUNDAY SUN.
MALONEY HAD certainly never mentioned any personal problems, any problems with work colleagues or with cement dust and sinusitis nor articulated any problems working at Arawak, apart from the temporary status.
Once again the resignation was a total surprise and he thought the response, “I am taking responsibility for my back”, sounded totally unlike Maloney.
It now appeared to Adesegha that when Maloney came to his lab that morning briefly and then left with his bag to see Collymore he had already made up his mind to resign.
Approximately 10:15 that morning, Maloney called his mother who was at her usual spot in Holetown under the trees close to the taxi stand. The conversation between them, as reported seems contradictory. She reported that he said “Mumz, Mumz, Mumz, I feel real good, I fire the work. I was here in Speightstown for a while just checking the scenes and it feels boring and monotonous. (more…)
THERE MUST BE a full and lawful recognition of the Rastafarian faith if there is to be mutual respect between them and the police.
And this recognition must first come from Government, said secretary of the Justice Committee, Ras KudosSage I.
He was responding to coroner Faith Marshall-Harris’ observation that there was a high level of mistrust between Rastafarians and the police and her call for the Royal Barbados Police Force to examine its relationship with members of the Rastafarian community.
“The first tangible way would be to have the state make some official recognition of Rastafari as a legitimate religious body as is being done in the United States, Jamaica, Italy and other countries.
“That is where everything originates because the ones with the authority tend to neglect the rights of Rastafari and how we worship and practise,” KudosSage argued. (more…)
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Darwin Dottin says he’s willing to meet with the Rastafarian community to discuss any problems the group might be facing.
But he wants them and Barbados alike to know that the Royal Barbados Police Force does not engage in singling out any particular group, regardless of race, colour or creed.
“I want to state categorically that the Police Force does not enforce the law by targeting any groups. We carry out our duties without fear or favour and with sensitivity,” Dottin told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday.
He was reacting to charges from the Rastafarian community that dreadlocked I’Akobi Maloney met his death through police profiling.
On Friday, Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris in ruling that the 23-year-old Barbados Exhibition winner’s death was by misadventure, urged the force to look closely at its relationship with the Rastafarian community, saying there was a high level of mistrust.
To this end, Dottin said the force was willing to meet with the community to discuss any issues of concern. (more…)
The Royal Barbados Police Force needs to look closely at its relationship with the Rastafarian community.
This recommendation came from Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris yesterday as she declared the death of Rastafarian I’Akobi Maloney a misadventure and suggested that he may have felt harassed by the barrage of questions from the police and that he “panicked and made a dash for freedom” when asked to escort them to the station.
The coroner noted that there was a high level of mistrust from the Rastafarian community against the police to the extent that Rastafarians had become paranoid and felt that there were constant forms of victimisation against them, even when that did not exist.
ARMED MEMBERS of the police Task Force were on hand to control the crowd at the Coroner's Court after yesterday's verdict into I'Akobi Maloney's death last year.
Tension
“There seems to be a great deal of tension, fear, mistrust and suspicion by the Rastafarian community, but by the same token, the community needs to look carefully at some of their actions which suggest that they are harbouring a victim mentality and may be looking for injustice where it is not intended,” said the coroner.
She was also very critical of how the police officers dealt with Maloney’s mother Marguerita Maloney, saying that they had given her incorrect information and that their actions may have led to the confusion she experienced surrounding her son’s death. (MB)
I’AKOBI MALONEY was not killed by police, neither did he commit suicide. His death was ruled a misadventure.
SERGEANT WINGROVE HEADLEY (right) being escorted into the officer of the Coroner's Court by uniformed officers yesterday.
Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris handed down this decision yesterday six months after the start of the inquiry into the death of the 23-year-old Exhibition winner whom police said jumped off a 50-ft cliff at Landlock, St Lucy, last June 17, as he was about to be escorted to the Holetown Police Station.
The coroner found there was no evidence to substantiate that Maloney had been unlawfully killed by the police or that he committed suicide.
She surmised that Maloney, a Rastafarian, may have felt some form of harassment when the police requested that he accompany them to the station and so “he panicked and made a sudden dash for freedom”.
But while the coroner cited the mutual distrust between the Rastafarian community and the police and called for improved relations between the two, the verdict was not accepted by the many Rastafarian brethren who turned out yesterday.
They gathered in the courtyard surrounding Maloney’s grieving mother, Marguerita, and let it be known that there would be no peace between them and the police.
Marshall-Harris spent close to two hours reviewing the case and analysing the evidence. (more…)
TO screams of “Murderer”, “You kill my son”, “Dis is just de beginning”, was how the Coroner’s verdict of “death by misadventure” was greeted yesterday by Marguerita Maloney, mother of I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, and other relatives and friends.
It was minutes before 5 o’clock when Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris delivered her verdict at the Coroner’s Court, Roebuck Street, St Michael, packed with Maloney’s relatives and friends including his mother and brother, Mandela.
After the Coroner left the courtroom and returned to her chambers, Maloney’s mother and others re-joined the Rastafarian brethren in the courtyard which included his father, David.
Dozens had earlier lined the courtyard but had to remain outside during the verdict for lack of space.
Pointing and calling names of the two officers who were first on the scene at Landlock, St Lucy, where the 23-year-old chemical engineer died on June 17, 2008, Marguerita told Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Police Constable Wendell Walkes… “De inquest end, but dis is just de beginning. De Rasta brethren gine get you.” (more…)
CORONER Faith Marshall-Harris will deliver her verdict today into the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney.
Maloney, a member of the Rastafarian community and Barbados Exhibitioner, died on June 17 when he allegedly jumped off a 50-foot cliff in Land Lock, St Lucy, while being escorted to the police station by two policemen.
He had just resigned from his job as a chemical engineer at the Arawak Cement Plant.
His death resulted in a public outcry especially from members of the Rastafarian faith who demanded an investigation.
The inquest began last November 10.
Attorneys Andrew Pilgrim and David Commissiong are representing the Maloney family. (MB)
LEAVING THE COURT: Constable Anthony Walkes, followed by chief investigator into the I’Akobi Maloney death, ASP Curwen Harvey, and Sergeant Wingrove Headley. Walkes and Headley were the two officers who were with Maloney when he allegedly jumped off a cliff.
“WHAT REASON would the police have to harass I’Akobi Maloney? asked police presenter Station Sergeant Martin Jones on Monday when he delivered his address to coroner Faith Marshall-Harris.
“A man who was so intelligent. He was not a criminal. He did not have any convictions. He was not a person who was wanted by the police so we see no reason why the police would go after him,” Jones stated.
He submitted that the reason why Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Constable Anthony Walkes gave their statements 13 days after the incident, was because both officers were traumatised after Maloney pulled away from them and jumped over the cliff.
“They were totally traumatised over what happened on that day. No police officer would have been able to give a statement,” Jones declared, pointing out that the station diary did contain an account of the incident the day after. (more…)
ATTORNEYS Andrew Pilgrim (right) and David Comissiong (second right) speaking to Mandela Maloney, brother of deceased I’Akobi Maloney, as a friend and his mother Marguerita Maloney look on.
DID police officers engage in profiling when they encountered I’Akobi Maloney, a six-foot Rastafarian standing alone on a secluded cliff?
Was there some level of aggression or conflict between them and that Rastaman?
Was he pushed or was he trying to escape?
These were scenarios which attorneys for the Maloney family, Andrew Pilgrim and David Comissiong, submitted to coroner Faith Marshall-Harris during their addresses, when the inquest into the 23 year-old man’s death resumed in the coroner’s court yesterday.
They asked the coroner to reject the evidence of the two police officers Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Constable Anthony Walkes who were with Maloney when he allegedly jumped off a 50-ft cliff to his death.
Comissiong told the court that given that the police had received a report about a boat, a Rastaman and drugs in the area that it was fair to assume they went to Land Lock, St Lucy, “all keyed up”. (more…)
JASON COLLYMORE denied yesterday that he had a homosexual relationship with Shon Boyce and reiterated that I’Akobi Maloney never visited his house.
Collymore, a supervisor at the Ararwak Cement Plant, told Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris yesterday at the coroner’s inquest into Maloney’s death that everything Boyce told the court last week was “absolutely untrue”.
Taking the witness stand for the third time during the inquest, he told the court that three days after giving his testimony on January 13, he received a telephone call from Boyce.
“He said to me how come he was involved in the inquest, that the police was pressuring him to make a statement that I was a homosexual and that he saw I’Akobi at my house.”
Collymore said he was so frustrated that week with the number of calls he had been receiving from family and friends that he told Boyce “do what you want to do” and then pressed out the phone. (more…)
AS CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS prepares to conclude her investigation into the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney, she has expressed concern about witnesses which the Maloney family want her to summon.
When the inquest continued yesterday, the coroner said she received a request on January 19 from David Comissiong, who is representing the Maloney family, suggesting that she should hear evidence from Trinidadian Adana Jacobs - Maloney’s former girlfriend.
But she stated that she would not be prepared to have Jacobs brought to Barbados unless her evidence was relevant to the case. (more…)
I’AKOBI MALONEY was actively searching for another job.
His younger brother, Mandela Maloney, disclosed this at the Coroner’s Inquest into his death on Monday.
He told the court that his brother, who obtained an engineering degree at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad was “dissatisfied with the conditions at the Arawak Cement Plant” and felt that the conditions there were not challenging enough.
Mandela pointed out that his brother started developing asthma and sinusitis and he believed it was because of the dust at the St Lucy plant. (more…)
AN ATTORNEY has suggested that police officers who were dispatched to Land Lock, St Lucy on the day I’Akobi Maloney died conspired to say they did not see how he died.
Andrew Pilgrim, who is representing the Maloney family, made this comment after Constables Anderson Ellis and Kevin Boyce said they did not focus on Land Lock on June 17, even though they were each in close proximity to the area.
Ellis said he was dispatched to Cove Bay and that he was focussing on a white boat which was out at sea.
He stated that he heard Sergeant Wingrove Headley transmitting on the VHF radio that he had Maloney in custody but he never looked over to Land Lock which was next to Cove Bay because he was busy looking at the boat. (more…)
CORONER Faith Marshall-Harris yesterday appealed to persons who were “sprinkling dust” around the court to desist from this habit.
She made the request when the inquest into the death of I’Akobi Maloney continued yesterday at the Coroners Court.
Stating that she was trying her best to conduct the inquest fairly, Marshall-Harris told the court: “I don’t like it and I wish it would stop, the situation of persons sprinkling dust or whatever it is over the court office. Please desist from doing it. It is defacing and littering Government property. It is not desirable.”
She also asked persons not to bring signs and slogans into the court.
“I do not think it is appropriate. Please let us operate with some degree of professional objectivity,” she stated.
CORONER Faith Marshall-Harris said she summoned two employees at the Arawak Cement Plant to give evidence at the inquest into the death of I’Akobi Maloney because she had been receiving anonymous reports that they were involved in a relationship with the deceased.
Process engineers James Walker and Jason Collymore both gave police statements denying that they were involved in a homosexual relationship with the 23-year-old scholar who police say jumped over a cliff to his death on June 17 last year. (more…)
CORONER Faith Marshall-Harris may revisit the locus in quo at Landlock, St Lucy, where I’Akobi Maloney met his death, to clarify the geography of the area.
From the start of the inquest witnesses have been referring to Landlock as either Cove Bay or Little Bay, areas on either side of Land Lock, and the coroner believes that this may have led to confusion about where Maloney died.
She made this observation on Monday while she continued the inquest into the young man’s death. (more…)
I’AKOBI MALONEY “jumped” 50 feet down from a cliff at Land Lock, St Lucy, and not 80 feet as originally stated by police.
The correct measurement was given by Sergeant Roger Mayers, a scenes-of-collision reconstructionist.
Mayers, who was deemed an expert witness by Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris, testified during the inquest into Maloney’s death on Monday and produced a sketch he made of the scene detailing all the relevant measurements.
He told the court that he reconstructed the scene on August 6, as pointed out to him by Sergeant Wingrove Headley and Constable Wendell Walkes, the two policemen who were with Maloney when he “jumped” over the cliff. (more…)
CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS again expressed concern about two identical statements given by two police officers who testified on Monday during the inquest into the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney.
Sergeant Trevor Reece and Constable Sandra Dottin were the two police officers who visited Marguerita Maloney’s home on June 17, to inform her about the death of her son.
When they took the witness stand they each read individual statements which were so identical that it prompted attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim to ask them if they wrote the statements together.
While both officers denied doing so, Coroner Marshall-Harris was very critical about the similarity in police officers’ statements.
“They are identical word for word,” she stated. (more…)
A THREAT has been made against one of the police officers who was with I’Akobi Maloney at Land Lock, St Lucy, when he died.
The DAILY NATION understands that a stone was thrown through the window of Acting Sergeant Walter Headley’s home last week, wrapped in newspaper with the words: “You are a dead man Mr Headley”, written on it.
According to a senior police officer, the newspaper also carried a report of Headley’s testimony at the Coroner’s Inquest into Maloney’s death.
The police are now investigating the matter. (more…)
CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS chastised a police officer for failing to make written notes surrounding the death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Maloney.
During his testimony on Thursday, Police Constable Wendell Walkes told the coroner that he did not make any notes because the incident was clear in his mind.
But Coroner Marshall-Harris told the detective that it was a matter of credibility and not simply having a good a memory. (more…)
CORONER FAITH MARSHALL-HARRIS is “desperately searching” for corroborating evidence in the unnatural death of I’Akobi Maloney.
But she will not get it from the two police officers who were the only ones with the 23-year-old scholar when he died.
She made this observation as she conducted an inquest into Maloney’s death on Thursday, interrupting attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim’s cross-examination of one of the police officers, Constable Wendell Walkes. (more…)
A PSYCHIATRIST who examined a diary entry believed to have been written by I’Akobi Maloney on the day he died has deduced from his writings that he was “troubled”.
However, Dr. Ermine Belle, senior consultant psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital, said she could not say the 23-year-old, who reportedly leapt off an 80-foot cliff to his death, was suicidal. (more…)
RASHIDA FRANCIS, an employee of the Government Forensics Laboratory, testified Monday that the Maloney family examined I’Akobi Maloney’s body when they should not have done so.
Francis told the Coroner’s Court that she was at the Government Forensics Centre when she spoke to Station Sergeant Morris on the telephone about Maloney’s body. At that time the station sergeant told her that Maloney’s mother was at the Crab Hill Police Station.
She was surprised when about an hour later, Marguerita Maloney turned up at the laboratory saying she came to identify the body. However, she informed her that she would have to bring her son’s identification card and hers as well. (more…)
ACTING SERGEANT Wingrove Headley admitted to Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris that he made an error in his statement which he gave about the death of I’Akobi Maloney.
In that statement, Headley wrote that after Maloney fatally jumped off a cliff he took possession of his haversack which he said “contained the same black pants and grey shirt” and other items.
But the coroner drew it to his attention that he had previously said in his statement that Maloney put on those clothes in his presence and she asked him to clarify what he meant.
The officer explained that he meant that it was the bag which contained the clothes which Maloney had put on and that it was an error for him to use the word “same”. (more…)
A telephone operator in the Police Control Room said she received a telephone call from an unknown man on June 17, informing her that he had spotted a “Rastaman” standing on a cliff at Coves Bay, St Lucy.
Grace Boyce-Codrington said the caller also stated that he had seen a boat at sea in the same area.
Boyce-Codrington was giving evidence at the Coroner’s Court during the inquest into the death of I’Akobi Maloney, who police testified jumped over a cliff at Land Lock, St Lucy, and died.
She said she received the call around 16:43 hours and immediately relayed the information to a Sergeant Browne, whom she overheard contacting the various agencies and stations, including Crab Hill and District “E”.
The telephone operator also told the court that three minutes after receiving the call the same man called back to thank her for the police’s quick response to the scene. (more…)
THE POLICE OFFICER who dealt with I’Akobi Maloney minutes before he died, said yesterday that he and his colleague discussed what they were going to write in their statements surrounding Maloney’s death.
When Andrew Pilgrim, who is representing the Maloney family, asked Acting Sergeant Walter Headley why he and Constable 1320 Walkes’ statements were identical, Headley said the two of them “had a discussion”
However, he denied suggestions by Pilgrim that they agreed to write exactly the same words or and that they copied each other’s words. His explanation for the identical statements was that “we saw the same thing”. (more…)
POLICE OFFICERS searched the Coroner’s Court yesterday as well as persons entering the courtroom, following reports that a verbal threat was made against Coroner Faith Marshall-Harris.
The court resumed its investigation into the death of I’Akobi Maloney yesterday.
It took a 15-minute break just after noon but before Marshall-Harris could return to the to the bench, a constable asked everyone to leave the court before he and a female police officer proceeded to carry out a search inside the courtroom.
The two officers then began frisking everyone entering the court. (more…)
Emotions ran high in the courtyard on April 24 after the coroner deemed that the former Barbados Exhibition winner I’Akobi Maloney had died by misadventure at Landlock, St Lucy, last June 17, the same day he resigned from his job as an engineer at the Arawak Cement Plant.
